Southend History
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Southend Fire Brigade Back to Top

The Cricketer’s Inn, on the corner of Milton Road and Leigh Road (now London Road), is not only where Southend’s youngest ever Mayor was born and raised, but it also housed one of the town’s first fire services.
The publican of the Cricketer’s Inn in the earlier 1900s, Alec White, Senior, was second-in-command of what was then known as the Southend Volunteer Fire Brigade, which was formed in 1875 and the forerunner of the town’s present fire service. The single horse-drawn fire engine was housed in the yard at the rear of the inn, with the horse’s harness suspended over the horse for a quick getaway. It was said with pride by the firemen, that they could be away to fight a fire in less than a minute. Jennie, the name that the men gave the horse that pulled the fire engine, was a small Shetland pony.
Fighting fires was thirsty work and the firemen would meet after tackling blazes at the bar of the Cricketer's for a well earned drink.
Alec Hemsley White
In April 1893, the transfer to the Corporation of the effects and control of the Brigade was agreed, and the Brigade was thereafter known as The Borough of Southend on Sea Volunteer Fire Brigade. The same personnel were retained, and was, subject to the supreme control and government of the Corporation, was under the command of Councillor H. Garon.
In 1898, Southend Fireman J. Gorman was presented the Long Service Medal for 20 years' service.
The Fire Station was in Market Place before the Brigade gained a permanent headquarters when the Central Fire Station was built in Tyler's Avenue in 1901.
On Saturday evening, 18th July, 1908, Southend was en fête, when something like 100,000 people thronged the approach to the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway Station to await the return of the volunteer firemen who were winners of the Dixon Memorial Shield, the Junior Steamer Drill, and the National Union Competitions held at Scarborough that day. On arrival of the train, the School of Gunnery Military Band from Shoeburyness played the air "See, The Conquering Hero Comes". The streets were decorated with Chinese Lanterns and fairy lamps, and across the High Street was the banner 'Welcome, Champion Firemen of England'. Another banner, in Hamlet Court Road, ran 'Westcliff is Proud of You'.
The winning crew was Lieutenant White, Firemen Sawkins, F. O. Wardill, Norton and Engineer Wood, who formed the team that won the National Steamer Shield, along with Fireman F. Wardill, Captain W. G. Harvey, and Firemen Shepherd and Wiseman.
After the Deputy Mayor (Councillor King) had congratulated them, a triumphant torch-light procession beat the bounds of the Borough. It was a great event for the town and there was much excitement as the town welcomed the championship firemen home. The atmosphere was described by a contemporary local newspaper as ‘deafening cheers and ecstatic excitement.’ The winning team rode through the town on a decorated horse-drawn carriage, bearing the four shields they had won, being cheered to the echo. There were fireworks and coloured fires lit.
A large feature also appeared in The Southend and Westcliff Graphic of 24th July 1908 on their achievement.
By 1909, the Brigade had two steam-powered tenders and pumps.
In 1911, Chief Engineer Willingale retired from the Southend Fire Brigade after 31 years' service, and was presented with a Silver Tea Service and Presentation Medal. He joined the Brigade in 1880.
Alec White, Senior died in 1912; the Fire Brigade put his coffin on the horse-drawn fire-engine which was used as a hearse, as a mark of respect to a great man. It was the end of an era.
The Morris-Magirus c1932
It was noted that firemen’s son, also called Alec White, went on to become Southend’s youngest ever Mayor and its 16th Freeman for his services to the community at the Cliffs Pavilion, which he was instrumental in getting built. Born and bred in the Cricketer’s Inn, Alec became Southend’s youngest ever Councillor in 1931 and Mayor in 1935-1936. He died in 1972, aged 81. Despite few demands on the Brigade, it was decided in 1912 to introduce an all-night watch of one man at the Central Fire Station owing to the growth of the town.

In 1939 the National Fire Service was created, with Southend becoming headquarters of No. 11 Fire Area, of which Southend and district was Sub-Area "A". The Fire Station was in Tyler's Avenue, next to The Regal Theatre of Variety. The Chief Officer at this time was Percy G. Garon.
During the coming war years the overall force of the Fire Brigade consisted of 8,000 men and women. Personnel and equipment from Southend went as far as Tilbury to deal with big dock fires, and oil fires at Canvey island, during the blitz.
The Kursaal was closed from June 1940, and the waterchute basin was prepared as a reserve water supply for the Fire Brigade.

Nationally, 793 fireman and 25 firewomen lost their lives during the war, and another 7,000 were seriously injured. This included a large number who were temporarily or permanently blinded by heat or sparks.
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In 1963, the Brigade was installed with its long awaited exclusive radio scheme - the previous being shared with the Police.
The Fire Station in Sutton Road opened in 1964. Four appliances occupied a five bay appliance room and covered wash-down area which were constructed north of the main two-storey building. There is direct access to the appliance room by pole of staircase from the dormitory, lecture room and mess rooms on the first floor. Adjoining the appliance room at ground floor level is the control room which performs the operational hub of the station. The rear of the main building at ground level contains the uniform and equipment stores, breathing apparatus room, bioler house and electrical gear switch room.
A 75-foot high drill tower forms the dominant feature of the outbuildings and hose water used for training purposes is drained back to underground storage tanks for re-use. The rear section of the tower is fully equipped for hose drying and the hose repair shop to the north of the tower is linked by a covered way. Other buildings include garages, workshops and stores with a separate appliance room and assembly room for the A.F.S. The two-storey smoke training building in the north-east corner of the site was provided with demountable partitions so that various room plans can be arranged for training purposes.
A "deep lift" situated on the north side of the drill yard extends 30 feet into the ground and is used for testing fire appliance pumps.
The main building and outbuildings were built by contractors C. S. Wiggins & Sons Ltd., and are steel framed, and Essex hand-made facing bricks have been used externally. The tower is faced with blue engineering bricks.
The glazed doors to the appliance room are constructed in teak and matching fixed panels bewteen the doors to give the effect of a continuous glazed frontage through which the appliances can be seen from Sutton Road. Lever control is fitted to the front sets of doors giving an immediate release to the spring-operated opening mechanism.
In 1964, the brigade attended 497 fires in Southend. Of these, 44 were on or close to railway embankments, 108 were domestic chimney fires, and 42 were related to oil lamps and stoves. Electrical fires in the home caused by faulty or 'improvised' installation were also common. Visiting one house, the landlord had wired all of the electric fires in let rooms from the light fittings. Since this process caused the 5 amp fuses to blow continually, hairpins had been inserted across the fuses.
In June, the unoccupied premises of the Westward Ho Hotel in Westcliff Parade was also badly damaged by fire from the ground up to the fourth floor; it took six pumps providing ten jets to extinguish the fire.
Appliances as of 1965
Southend-on-Sea Fire Brigade became amalgamated with Essex in April 1974, becoming part of the Essex County Fire Brigade, which was inaugurated on 1st April 1948. It operated with six divisions, each with its own Divisional Mobilising Control, installed and designed by the Brigade's own technical staff.
In 1977 a single centralised Fire Control became fully operational at Brigade Headquarters and in 1978 Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Kent, officially opened the new Brigade Headquarters in Hutton.
Further reorganisation in 1985 reduced the Brigade to four Divisions and the name was changed to the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service to reflect the changing role of the Service.
In 1995, 'Essex Fire and Rescue' reorganised once more from four to two divisions. This structure remained in place until January 2002 when, in order to reflect the increasing need for the fire service to work in closer contact with the communities, operations were reorganised once more into seven commands.

At the turn of the twentieth century, the top football side in the town was Southend Athletic, but in 1905, they had begun to struggle both on the pitch and financially. However, ideas had been mooted around to turn Athletic into a semi-professional side, but with little support and funding it never was more than simply an idea.


However, ideas, which had begun in April, to create a strong professional side in the town came to fruition on 19th May 1906, when a meeting was held at the Blue Boar Public House (where the landlord, Oliver Trigg, and his fellow football enthusiasts formed the new club).
Within days, a three year lease had been sealed on the 6,000 capacity Roots Hall ground. This was part of the undeveloped farmland behind Roots Hall in West Street that sloped down to Prittle Brook.
First thoughts were of naming the new side Prittlewell United, but as talks went on the name Southend United was settled upon instead.
Within just two years the team were promoted to the First Division of the Southern League. Southend Athletic, after concerns that their new rivals would provide competition in the South Essex League, also applied to the Southern League but were rejected. 'Athletic' folded in the summer of 1907 but officially merged with Southend United.
During World War One, football was suspended. Roots Hall had been reclaimed during the war as an army training base.
The site began to be excavated for sand extraction and in 1919 the football club moved to new grounds at the thriving Kursaal Amusement Park, the pitch being the same one which had formerly made up 'Athletic’s' Marine Park home.
Southend United's founder, Oliver Trigg, who also at the time owned the Ivy House in Marine Parade, died from a heart attack on 25th February 1919. 1932 proved to be one of their best seasons and were at the top as the Second World War broke out. Their home ground was requisitioned by the Ministry and the team moved to share Chelmsford's ground.
Southend United 1919-1920
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They were re-homed at the Kursaal until 1934, when they moved to the Greyhound Stadium at Grainger Road .
The 1935-6 Blues’ team included David Jack, football’s first £10,000 signing, ‘keeper George MacKenzie who won nine caps for Ireland while at the club (thus becoming United’s most capped player) and full back Dave Robinson who served the club in many roles during his 58 year career.

The pre-Second World War seasons saw the beginning of Frank Walton’s 50-year association with Southend United as a player and an officer of the club and the clock on Roots Hall’s South Bank adorns his name. Also prior to the Second World War, Southend’s best season was undoubtedly 1931-2, when they finished 3rd from top after nine games the team drew a record crowd of 18,000 for the visit of Clapton Orient. However, as if often United’s way, a poor run of form meant they went as low as 8th place and despite a late rally the club missed out on promotion despite being only four points behind champions Fulham. Part of the success was put down to the new black and white striped kit the team sported that season, thankfully it did not catch on!

In 1934 the club moved to the greyhound stadium in Sutton Road, but when war came the stadium was commandeered by the military.
1949 Programme
The first full season during the War saw United compete in the Southern Division, which consisted of 34 teams, and the table was calculated on goal difference as not all teams were able to play the same amount of games. Southend finished 31st!
After that Southend United did not re-emerge as a team until October 1944, and the following season saw a period of transition until normal service was resumed a year later.
After the War, the club returned to the Sutton Road stadium. Harry Warren was managing the Blues who had been playing their home games at the Southend Stadium, and he ranks alongside Ted Birnie and Dave Webb as one of our more successful managers.
The first full season after the War saw Southend finish 8th while two years later 3rd place was achieved. After six games the team were top and remained in the top three for most of the campaign.

However, their nerve failed with four games left and a 2-1 defeat at Northampton followed by a 2-2 draw against Leyton Orient, when victory would have given them the runners-up spot, meant the chance had gone.
The same season, 1949-50, had seen the Blues’ beaten 4-0 by a Stanley Matthews’ inspired Blackpool in the third round of the F.A. Cup, hardly surprising when you consider the hosts were seventh in Division One. 1955 proved to be a momentous one for Southend, as the club moved to its current home Roots Hall, with Ted Fenton appointed manager. The entire cost of the project had been raised by the supporters club who, together with the ground staff, shaped a ground out of nothing. In 1966, Southend were relegated for the first time in their history in a season that included a club record 9-1 defeat at Brighton.
In 1968, Southend scored 19 goals during the first two rounds of the FA Cup having beaten King's Lynn 9-0 and Brentford 10-1. Billy Best (pictured right) scored eight times over the two ties and Gary Moore seven.

Billy Best
The "Shrimpers'" home ground is Roots Hall (the original name was Roward's Hall Fields), and they played there until World War One, when the grounds were converted to allotments. After the war, the team played at the Kursaal site, before returning to its current home of Roots Hall in 1955.
"I went to the first match at Roots Hall. That was the year they played Manchester city in the cup in the third round. They walked all over them and took it, but their German goalkeeper, Burt Troutman, said in his memoirs that 'it was the hardest game of football he’d ever played, and that Southend were the best team, and we were absolutely outplayed.'" (The late Ken Sadler speaking in April 2008)

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The 1970s saw Southend yo-yo between the Third and Fourth Divisions, the most memorable home game being against Liverpool in 1979 just before they went down again to Division Four. The following few seasons were disastrous and attendances were regularly under the 2,000 mark, and players came and went. 1987 saw radical changes after Anton Johnson was arrested when £70,000 of the club's Christmas money went missing and Robert Maxwell and Ken Bates came to the rescue and lent the club money. There began a slow build up of wins again and in 1991 Southend achieved promotion to the then Second Division for the first time in their history under Dave Webb, but by the end of the nineties Southend were in the basement again.
To see Southend United's match history click here

Plans for a new stadium for United at Fossetts Farm are currently under inquiry - the ground at Roots Hall is speculated to be re-developed as a shopping complex with some residential housing.
The Hospitals      Back to Top
Southend & Westcliff

In the 1880's there were about 29,000 people living in Southend. On a sunny Sunday trains full of Londoners paid 4/6d return (11p) to use the London, Tilbury & Southend line and have a carefree day at the seaside. These, plus trippers from elsewhere, regularly swelled the total number to over 80,000 Local doctors, clergymen and other leading citizens were getting more and more worried that there was still no hospital; but all they did was talk - except for Bishop Gregg, founder of Trinity Church, and Bishop of Verulam in the Reformed Church of England, and doctor of medicine as well as a doctor of divinity.

Bishop Gregg roused public opinion on the sanitary conditions of the town, and despite being threatened with legal action, his continued condemnations finally succeeded in their purpose of creating genuine concern for town health in Local Board circles.
In 1885, Bishop Gregg hired a small cottage in Park Street and opened a Medical Mission, treating 1,706 patients in his first year, which, through small payments from patients and donations, balanced its budget.
By May, 1886, the Mission had treated over 3,000 cases and Bishop Gregg was on the look out for larger premises.
By August 1886, he'd built and opened a Mission building in Clarence Street, opposite the Mechanics Institute, and was dispensing treatment to about a hundred patients a day.
It was his talk of building a Cottage Hospital that really lit the civic touch-paper.
Southend Victoria Hospital 1907
Dr. D. G. Deeping
In September 1886, a group of local doctors (Doctors Deeping, Dempster, Phillips and Morris) met at the home of another of their profession, Dr. Jones, determined to build a Cottage Hospital suitable for the town. At their meeting they decided, “To form an influential committee as soon as the project is in proper working order, and also a ladies' committee, with a view to holding a bazaar on a large scale next Spring”. Dr Jones said that the chemists in the town had promised ten guineas when the building reached the first floor. Dr. Deeping thought the ministers of the town would probably assist them by preaching a hospital sermon on one Sunday each year, while many would help with the furnishing.
It was in 1887 that a public fund was started for Southend's first hospital and site (where Warrior Square swimming pool now stands) was bought for £350.
The Foundation stone laid by Lady Brooke (now in a place of honour opposite Southend Hospital's accident and emergency department). It was built for £1,287.4s.6d, and Southend Victoria Hospital opened in May 1888.
By Christmas, with 8 beds and 2 cots, it had treated 61 patients at an average weekly cost of 4s.6d (22p), and a year later, the hospital was connected to the telephone system.
It was quickly realised that there was a dire need for an extension, and a new wing was planned on the west side of the existing building. The wing was built to include the Nurse's Home, and a 'male only' ward, bringing the total number of beds to fourteen, and two cots. It wasn't until 1902 that electric light was installed.  
The contract for the New General Hospital went to the firm of John C. Gray, of Coventry, their tender of £121,815 being the lowest offered.

The New Hospital Fund brought to the fore once again those who had already done faithful duty to the Victoria Hospital as well as others known as persons of standing in the town.
Among these were Mr. Charlton Hubbard, JP; Mr. Cecil Jones; Dr. C. Forsyth (a member of the Victoria Hospital honorary medical staff since 1896) and Dr. Gordon Hopkins; Mr. Edmund Stone, and Mr. W. R. Masters. With all these were the chairman, vice-chairman and treasurers, who had already done so mch to nurture the new project in its infancy - Viscount Elveden, Alderman Herbert Dowsett, Alderman Sir Frederick Senier, Alderman R. Tweedy Smith, Councillor Brockett and one whose greatest work, perhaps, was done behind the scenes, Mr. J. W. Burrows.
(In 1905, the Victoria Hospital had organised a modest cycle parade, which had proved a comfortable source of income. When 8th September arrived, 70,000 people lined the streets to see the mile-long procession)
E. Cecil Jones
The fund and the Victoria each received £600 - a sufficient result to ensure the repetition of the carnival on larger and more profitable scales in succeeding years.

In 1893, the Borough Council decided to provide a permanent infectious diseases hospital and in the spring, purchased from Thomas Dowsett, two and a half acres in the district of St. Mary’s, the highest point in the borough. In August, a temporary iron building was erected to provide accommodation for patients suffering from scarlet fever and was, from time to time, used for smallpox cases. By October, the building was vacated because it was too cold and a permanent ward, of 12 beds, was built the same year. The temporary hospital in Prittlewell Street closed. The Hospital changed its name to the Borough Sanatorium (it had previously been known as the Sanitary Hospital) in 1895.
Until 1898, when the Brougham Ambulance was provided, patients were removed to the Sanatorium in a hand-litter, and subjected, with some amusement, to a procession which used to be associated with the removal of a patient to a hospital; on one side of the litter walked the nurse. The stretcher was pulled along from the front by two men, while two other men assisted in the pushing. The patient was covered by a tarpaulin.

It is that part of the present site with the entrance in Balmoral Road, a western boundary of Hamlet Court Road, formerly Sallendines Lane, and an eastern boundary of Salisbury Avenue; the part of the site on which stands Britannia, King, Osbourne and Windsor Wards was acquired in 1901.
In 1902, owing to the emergency created by the prevalence of scarlet fever, it became necessary to erect a wood and iron ward block, the Allen Block, named after Councillor W. H. Allen, Chairman of the Health Committee from 1899 to 1906. In 1910, the King Block of 18 beds was completed and was so named in commemoration of the accession of King George V and also the Mayoralty of Alderman King.
In 1911, the Government introduced the National Insurance Act which, through workers' contributions, supplied the poor with a safety net against unemployment or illness. A worker who was sick received ten shillings a week for six months, but many people were excluded, including women who weren't wage earners, young people under sixteen and the elderly who were economically inactive. The scheme involved the appointment of a panel of doctors who oversaw the treatment of patients and determined whether they were poorly enough to be put on the sick, or to use the colloquialism of the time, 'on the panel.'

By 1911, the population of Southend had grown from 11,000 in 1897 to over 62,000. It was in 1924 that voices were being raised about the inadequacy of Victoria Hospital. The site was becoming overcrowded with “patchwork policy” additions, and in 1925, Viscount Elveden, the prime mover in the campaign for a new hospital, bought a 12 acre site (formerly a part of Coleman's Farm). He started a building fund with £20,000 and other donations began to trickle in. The Carnival Committee raised funds as did Sir Albert Martin JP, a local grocer and former Mayor who donated £58,000.

Building work on Southend's (state-of-the-art) General Hospital was started in 1929. The foundation stone was laid by H.M. the Queen, when she was Duchess of York, and the building was opened debt free on 26th July 1932.
Continuity of old with new was preserved by the names of some of the first wards to be opened. There were Dowsett (30 beds), Victoria (30 beds), and Emmanuel (26 beds), as well as wards named to commemorate the various associations which had worked for the hospital - Sportsmen's (30 beds) and Schools (26 cots).
The Hospital was amalgamated with the Victoria Hospital on 11th November 1932, by an Order of the Charity Commissioners.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the hospital was absorbed into the national emergency plan, having 408 beds ready for service, and 25,000 sandbags assembled in position (These were replaced with blast-proof walls round the wards and departments).
In 1940, food rationing was introduced to the hospital, and accommodation for civilians was reduced to a bare 110 beds.
As the war moved on from the defence to the attack in 1941, the hospital set about regaining its strength by way of expansion (the Children's Wing).
Preparing for war in 1939
By 1943, there were 200 beds available for civilians; the others were reserved for Emergency Medical Service cases, and those brought in through military activities.

1948 saw the hospital taken over by the Ministry of Health under the newly-formed NHS. In 1966 building work began on the tower block, and the Intensive Therapy Unit opened two years later.

1970 brought computerisation of the hospital information system, and in 1971 Princess Anne officially opened the tower block.
In 1985 the Eye laser facility was purchased from Trust funds and voluntary fundraising and in 1986 the major refurbishment of the accident and emergency department was completed. Three years later, the new CT scanner Unit was opened by the Princess Royal (pictured left) and in 1990, the Diabetes centre opened. In 1991, Southend became an NHS Trust. £27m plans were approved to centralise all acute services at Southend (transferring services from the Rochford site), and in 1993 a separate £1m eye clinic opened along with a new 18-station renal dialysis unit.
Work started on the new £11m extension and the refurbishment of all tower block wards. Community fundraising afforded the Installation of £1m MRI scanner. Southend Hospital was officially designated Cancer Centre status in 1997 and in 1999, the £250,000 extension to the Renal Unit opened plus work started on a £1m programme to rebuild and refurbish pathology labs. In the Millenium year the £400,000 Leukaemia Unit opened thanks to massive support from the local community, and in 2002, the £3.4m A&E department was completed. In 2006, the £4.75m Centre for Clinical Oncology (Radiotherapy) opened with two new linac machines.
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On 1st June 2006, the hospital gained Foundation Trust status - its new name being the Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
The First World War         Back to Top
Southend suffered one of the first air raids on England in the First World War on the night of 10th/11th May, 1915:

At five minutes to three in the morning, Southend was startled by two terrific explosions and almost simultaneously the sky was lit up by flames in different parts of the Borough. When the Zeppelin Airship (LZ38) was seen, her glow in the sky could be seen as she was using a searchlight. A warning was sounded by the town hooter, the signal for people to remain in their houses, but hundreds ran into the streets to have a sight of her. There was no panic.

A special "Air Raid Supplement" was published by the Southend Standard (much to the displeasure of the government), with graphic accounts of the Zeppelin raid by LZ38, commanded by Hauptmann Erich Linnarz, and which showed all the damage and names the killed and injuries caused. A message was attached to one bomb found in Rayleigh Avenue; 'You English we have come. We'll come again. Kill or cure'. Zeppelins were huge airships, from which incendiary bombs would be dropped by hand onto towns. The first bomb of the 10/11 May raid just missed the S.S. Royal Edward which was moored off Southend Pier, and was being used as an Internee ship for German nationals.
LZ38 then dropped several other bombs on Southend (two between the Royal Edward and the shore and four on the town) itself before making off up the Thames but was turned back when A.A. guns at Cliff and Thames Haven opened up. She headed back over Southend and proceeded to drop the rest of her bombs on Southend causing considerable damage. One elderly woman was killed at 120 North Road, a Mrs. Whitwell; her husband was in the same room but escaped with serious injuries.
Other damage to the town was as follows:

West Road: The house of Mr. Pensan was set alight (Pictured right). Mr. Pensan, his wife, three children and their servant escaped by jumping from the windows.
Hamlet Court Road: The premises of Mr. Ainslie were damaged by fire.
Summercourt Road: One house set alight.
Ceylon Road: Several bombs dropped in the garden of Dr. MacDonald.
North Road: An Incendiary bomb crashed through the roof of the house of Mr. & Mrs. Whitwell, killing Mrs. Agnes Whitwell as she lay in bed. Her husband was seriously injured in trying to extinguish the flames.
Warrior Square: (Southchurch Road) Messrs Flaxmans timber yard was set alight and considerable damage done.
Baxter Avenue: One house gutted, several bombs fell in the roadway and gardens.
Harcourt Avenue: Bombs landed in the gardens to the rear of the houses on the north side.

Richmond Road: Three bombs fell within a small area. One shattered a window a second fell in a back garden and a third in the roadway.
MacDonald Avenue: One bomb fell here, in the playground of a children's school, but no damage was done.
On the Cliffs: A bomb dropped on the pavement near the flagstaff.

On 12th May, 1915, in response to the Zeppelin raid two days earlier, there were anti-German riots in Southend and five shops in the High Street and Queens Road, alleged to have been German or Austrian owned, were wrecked. Some 250 troops and Territorials were turned out with a 'bugle call, against the rioting populace.
A Zeppelin was brought down in the Estuary off Southend in 1916.
'Garibaldi House' in York Road (No. 154) was used as a convalescent home for wounded Belgian soldiers, as was the Princes Picturedome in Tyler's Avenue. The proprietor, Mr. Schrynemakers, had no less than nine of his own relatives in the firing line.
By the end of 1916 it was realised that the Zeppelin airships were never going to deliver the means to conduct a significant bombing campaign against the British Isles. The Gotha IV (Pictured left) was the result of several years of expertise gained by the Gothaer Waggonfabrik AG in building twin engine military aeroplanes. The twin engine Gotha was a fraction of the cost of the Zeppelins in terms of material and man hours and was a far more versatile and effective means of delivering a bomb load to targets on mainland Britain. The early raids of 1916 were virtually unopposed and caused mayhem and panic amongst the civilian population of the Home Counties.

On 12th May 1917, one of the worst air raids killed 35 people and blew many buildings to pieces when twenty enemy 'Gotha' planes (which could carry up to one ton of bombs each) dropped aerial torpedoes over the centre of town and the eastern area.
On 12th August 1917 during another raid over Southend by eleven 'Gothas', 'Sopwith Pups' of the RNAS and B.E.12s of the RFC Home Defence Fighter Squadrons were scrambled and attacked the German bombers. A release from the Press Bureau stated that: 'Reports of pilots show conclusively that the enemy was making for London. On sighting the large number of our aeroplanes which were sent up against them they turned abruptly and made the best of their way out to sea again, dropping some bombs in Southend and unloading the rest when out to sea.'

The large house used by Westcliff High School in Victoria Avenue (where the Civic Centre is today) was taken over as a prison camp for German officers. It had a high perimeter fence but from any tram moving down the Victoria Avenue, it was possible to look down and see prisoners walking around under the watch of sentries.
During the war, the Queen Mary Hospital was visited twice by royalty: HM Queen Mary in June 1914, and in July 1917, by HRH Princess Mary.
Many from Prittlewell did not survive the war and a memorial to them is the Lynch Gate and carved stone cross at the west front of St. Mary's church and a role of honour in the church porch.

The Palace Hotel was converted to hospital use as Queen Mary’s Royal Naval Hospital throughout the war period. The hospital cared for both British and Belgian wounded and sick. From March 1917 only sailors were admitted. To raise funds for the hospital, special charity events were held, such as "rose days" and "gift days". Up to March 1917, a total of 4,126 British soldiers and sailors and 169 Belgian soldiers, had been treated. The War Memorial on the clifftop was built in 1920 to commemorate those who lost their lives in the First World War. It was designed by the famous architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, who is also responsible for the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London.

Between the Wars         Back to Top
After the First World War, road transport added thousands more visitors to the town; and Charabancs appeared on the promenades, offering day and evening excursions into the cool of the Essex countryside. To the 80 dinghies and sailing boats which had previously constituted Southend's fleet of small pleasure-craft were added motor-boats, ranging from small launches carrying about a dozen persons to the motor ships like the New Prince of Wales (Pictured right), with its licensed bar and 400-passenger capacity, which started to ply for trade from a jetty near the Pier in 1923.
In 1920, as part of his tour, Prince Albert (later King George VI) visited Southend, and officially opened Naval & Military Club in Royal Terrace.
After the ceremony, Miss Beatrice Scott presented the Prince with the key to the club, which he declared open, and then took the opportunity to meet with some of the disabled ex-servicemen.
(Click the image for larger view)
During the 1920s there were several major developments in and around Southend. The new Arterial Road (the A127) was being constructed in the early 1920s. This was a period of very serious unemployment and hardship and, by way of trying to alleviate this hardship, many unemployed men were taken on to help with the new road scheme.
In 1921 the War Memorial, designed by Edward Luytens, had been unveiled in Clifftown Parade.

The Southend Symphony Orchestra was formed as an association in 1921 from the orchestral section of the Westcliff Operatic and Dramatic Society. The aims of the orchestra were, and remain to this day "to perform, for the benefit of members and friends, the works of the Great Masters as created in Overtures, Symphonies and Concertos for Solo Instruments". There were few opportunities at this time to hear such works outside of London, other than that performed by Military Bands.

A popular local theatrical venue of the time was the Floral Hall, which replaced the Happy Valley bandstand, located at the bottom of Southend's cliffs, almost opposite the current Westcliff Leisure Centre. This opened in 1920 and hosted typical seaside entertainment and concert parties up until it was destroyed by fire in 1937; parts of the foundations are still visible today.
When Priory Crescent was constructed in 1923, artefacts and other evidence were uncovered just north of the railway bridge, which showed the site to have been both a Roman and a 7th century Saxon cemetery. The cemetery was on the rising ground just beyond the trees and shrubs along the Park boundary and would have overlooked Prittle Brook. Roman and Saxon settlements would have been nearby. No firm evidence has been found of their locations, but a Saxon arch in St Mary's Church suggests that settlement might have been there on the highest ground (south of the Brook).
The Arterial Road, Prince Avenue, was officially opened by H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester (then Prince Henry) on 25th March 1925. It continued along the north and east sides of Priory park - cutting through the Roman and pagan Saxon cemetery on the east side - and a new and wider railway bridge over the LNER line was built, and the road carried forward along Eastern Avenue to Hamstel Road. With the opening of the arterial road, Rochford Road, North Street and Victoria Avenue became the principle entrance route by road to central Southend. Following the widening of Rochford Road and North Street, the use of their old names were discontinued and were re-named as a continuation of Victoria Avenue from the church to Cuckoo Corner.
Another major scheme was the building of the Victoria Arcade, at Victoria Circus. This was a complex of arcades or alleyways with shops, rather like an under-cover market. At the centre of the complex of alleyways and shops was a private house, belonging to C.H.J. Talmage. Each of the alleyways had a name, one of the best remembered being the Talza Arcade. Part of the complex, which opened in 1925, was two storeys high, and on the corner was Ernsbrake House, owned by the H. G. Garon family, which featured a tower, depicting a rising sun in orange and white stained glass with the "Garons Clock", above one of their shops.
Ernsbrake House, owned by Garons.
Another feature of the Arcade was the Civic News Theatre.
The foundation stone was laid for the temporary St. Luke's Church building (now used as one of the Church Halls) in November 1925.
The District of St Luke was separated from St Mary's and the Reverend C. N. Wardle-Harpur appointed as the first Vicar at St Luke's on 20th November 1931.
In 1958 the Church Council approved plans for the new Church building, and in September 1959 the foundation stone for the new Church was laid. On Saturday 15th October 1960 the new church was Consecrated, and the First Communion took place the following morning.
The well-known manufacturer of radio-sets, television receivers, electric lamps and fluorescent lamps, E. K. Cole Ltd., started business on 2nd October 1926. Its original premises were two rooms in Leigh, and later a small factory was acquired in London Road, near the Elm Hotel. Having become a public limited company in 1930, the firm erected a plant at Prittlewell. This plant was constantly enlarged during 1932-39.
The Gas Light & Coke Company purchased the Southend Gas Company in 1932. It now had the greatly enlarged gas works on the Eastern Esplanade. Coal for the company, which used about 200 tons per day, arrived by sea at a jetty constructed in 1924 by the Corporation, despite their objections. The Corporation, in fact, had its own powers to generate and sell electricity since the institution of the "Grid" in 1926.
In 1933 a further extension of boundaries brought within the County Borough Shoeburyness and parts of the parishes of Eastwood, Great Wakering, North Shoebury and Shopland.
Step by step, property in Prittlewell had been acquired and demolished, advantage taken of road widening improvements, until with the exception of a small area on the south side, the whole of the area surrounding the church has been cleared. All but two of the houses on the corner of East Street were demolished in 1935. In 1936, the St. Mary's Church School (erected in 1866) was remodelled and extended. Property at the corner of West Street and North Street, erected in the 16th century, was demolished in 1948; part had served as bank premises and part as a shop.

Southend’s ‘HJ’ vehicle registration mark had been exhausted during 1930, and 'JN' was issued.

In 1937, Southend saw the visit of Home Fleet and celebrated the Coronation of HM King George VI. Over 400,000 trippers poured into the town during the August Bank Holiday that year, and by 1938, Southend had peaked in its popularity as a resort, beaten in numbers only by Blackpool.

1939 saw the Southend Arterial Road being 'dualled' in the April.
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